Fur, Fin & Fang

The Best Beasts of 2013 (Photos)

Sorry, Grumpy Cat. From Vladimir Putin cuddling with his dogs to the no-nonsense bulls in the streets of Pamplona, a look at the animals that helped tell the story of the year that was.

Mohsin Raza/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-cat-dog_h3evnw — March 7
Bailey Bear, a golden Labradoodle, sits in front of a picture of a cat during the first day of the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, England.

Darren Staples/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-monkey-shave_sqdmyo — October 7
A man shaves his monkey with a razor before it performs tricks for money in Lahore, Pakistan.

Mohsin Raza/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-surf-dog_r0ekpw — September 29
Surf Dog Joey, a West Highland terrier, bails on his surfboard while competing in the Surf City surf dog competition in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-snakes_yjmffu — February 8
A worker curls snakes that are to be dried at a snake slaughterhouse at Kapetakan village near Cirebon, Indonesia. Snake meat is believed by some to be a remedy for skin diseases and asthma, as well as an aid to virility. The skin is used to make bags, shoes, wallets, and belts.
Beawiharta Beawiharta/Reuter

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/131220-beast-beast-tiger_qhuzhp — November 6
A three-month-old Sumatran tiger cub named Bandar shows his displeasure after being dunked in a moat for a swim reliability test at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. All cubs born at the zoo must take a swim test before being allowed to roam in the exhibit. Bandar passed.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-seals_jpbzqb — November 17
Gray seals play underwater near the Farne Islands, off the coast of northern England. The National Trust, a British conservation charity, owns and protects the islands, which it says host some 23 species of seabirds, as well as a substantial colony of gray seals, who come to have their pups there in the autumn.

Nigel Roddis/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-spooky-horse_zg5m9j — March 23
Horses graze in a field in front of the Puente Nuevo, or New Bridge, during the Earth Hour in Ronda, Spain. Earth Hour, when people around the world are asked to turn off lights for an hour from 8.30 p.m. local time, is meant as a show of support for tougher actions to confront climate change.

Jon Nazca/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-soccer_xlbbzq — March 10
FC Thun goalkeeper Guillaume Faivre shows the way out to a marten, which was found running on the pitch during a Swiss Super League soccer match against FC Zurich.
Pascal Lauener/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-gorilla_ohiuoq — May 2
Kumbuka, a 15-year-old western lowland gorilla, holds a green pepper as he explores his new enclosure at the ZSL London Zoo. The silverback male, who stands 7 feet tall, moved from another British zoo in hopes he would mate with London's three female gorillas to increase numbers of the critically endangered species as part of the European breeding program.
Oli Scarff/Getty

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/131220-beast-beast-sunny-obama_grjdv8 — December 4
Michelle Obama reacts as 2-year-old Ashtyn Gardner, from Mobile, Ala., trips over another child's walker after meeting the first family's new dog, Sunny, at the unveiling of the decorations at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Jason Reed/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-running-arcoss-the-road_x2xgjk — January 11
An alpaca crosses the road as drivers wait in their vehicles in the highlands of Chile en route to the Jama border crossing during the seventh stage of the 2013 Dakar Rally from Calama to Salta.
Ivan Alvarado/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-putin_s36bo7 — March 24
Russin President Vladimir Putin plays with his dogs Buffy (right) and Yume at his residence outside Moscow. Buffy, a Bulgarian shepherd dog, was presented to Putin by his Bulgarian counterpart, Boyko Borisov, while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offered Putin the puppy Yume as a gift during the G20 in Mexico.

AFP/Getty

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-roof-roosters_kcovus — August 15
Chickens perch on the roof of a hennery to escape rising floodwaters after Typhoon Utor hit Maoming, in China's Guangzhou province.
China Stringer Network/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-lion-monkey_pyjmpj — May 1
A baby monkey, a lion cub, and tiger cubs play at the Guaipo Manchurian Tiger Park in Shenyang, in China's Liaoning province.
Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-owels_kko3gb — October 3
Burrowing owls stand guard near their home next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence near San Ysidro, California.

John Moore/Getty

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-monkey-fish_tvexsr — July 16
A monkey plays in a pond surrounded by carps at a wildlife park in Hefei, in China's Anhui province.
Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-eagle_edzgjj — July 31
Prince Charles holds a bald eagle named Zephyr during a visit to the 132nd Sandringham Flower Show at Sandringham House in King's Lynn, England.
Chris Jackson/Getty

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-elmo-dog_ipbeyt — June 28
Catherine Opson walks her dogs Kobe (right) and Porsche at a park in Dana Point, Calif. Opson has won multiple awards for her creative approach to dog grooming.

Mike Blake/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-crazy-bird_bgoouc — July 8
An arctic tern swoops down from the sky above the Farne Islands, off the coast of northern England.
Nigel Roddis/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-dong-sand_otu60a — April 16
A dog runs along Portstewart Strand during heavy winds on the Causeway Coast, in Northern Ireland.

Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-flock-of-birds_tijjvu — September 9
Waders flock together seeking new feeding grounds during the incoming tide at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' Snettisham Nature Reserve in Snettisham, England. The reserve lies on the edge of The Wash, one of the most important bird estuaries in the U.K., supporting more than 300,000 birds. A few times every year, higher than average tides force thousands of waders, including knot, oystercatchers, sanderlings, black and bar-tailed godwit, and plover, to take flight and advance up the mud flats in search of food. The event is one of the most incredible wildlife spectacles in the U.K.

Dan Kitwood/Getty

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-bull_w1k9aw — July 12
A runner is gored by an El Pilar fighting bull during the sixth running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain. The runner, a 31-year-old man from Castellon, Spain, was gored three times.

Susana Vera/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-ducks_xr2bii — April 24
A breeder, whose business has been affected by the H7N9 bird flu virus, walks his ducks along a road in China's Shandong province. A dropoff in Chinese demand for soybeans used to feed poultry and livestock lasted for months, as consumers lost their appetite for poultry in response to a deadly bird flu virus outbreak and amid lingering images of rotting pig carcasses floating in a river.

Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-dead-fish_pod3qq — March 13
Dead fish in the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in Rio de Janeiro. Thousands were removed after oxygen levels dropped due to pollution, according to local Brazilian media. Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon will host the rowing competitions in the 2016 Olympic Games.

Sergio Moraes/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-butterfly_kegxv0 — March 25
Stella Ferruzola, 3, poses with a Blue Morpho butterfly on her nose at the Sensational Butterflies Exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London.
Luke MacGregor/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-camels_jwl7iy — November 9
A camel trader wearing traditional headgear looks on as he stands with his camels at Pushkar Fair in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan. Many international and domestic tourists throng to Pushkar to witness one of the most colorful and popular fairs in India. Thousands of animals, mainly camels, are brought to the fair to be sold and traded.

Ahmad Masood/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-bb-alpaca_u6joud — April 22
Freshly shorn alpacas in a meadow in the village of Winklarn, Germany. Alpacas are shorn every spring to make the animals more comfortable for the summer months and to collect their expensive and well-known wool.

Michaela Rehle/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-bear-paws_wjmcrs — June 15
Smuggled bear paws are seen at the China-Russia border in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Two Russians were arrested for smuggling 213 bear paws into China, according to customs police.
Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-bb-elephant_heus9z — April 21
An orphaned baby elephant walks through mud as tourists take pictures at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nursery within Nairobi National Park. The Kenyan orphanage cares for baby elephants and rhinos that have been orphaned by poachers, or lost or abandoned for natural reasons. The orphaned elephants raised by the trust are returned to join the elephant population in Tsavo National Park when they mature, between 8 to 10 years old.

Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters

galleries/2013/12/26/the-best-beasts-of-2013-photos/beast-beast-camels-road_y2tjlc — January 24
Border Security Force soldiers ride their camels in front of India's presidential palace during a rehearsal for the Beating the Retreat ceremony in New Delhi. The ceremony marks the end of the Indian Republic Day celebrations.

Adnan1 Abidi/Reuters

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